Les Nicholas

^Welcome...I’ve done it! After some twenty years of college and university teaching, I have pulled back from that arena in order to accept more performing opportunities. My students frequently would ask, “Why aren’t you out there performing more?” Well, perhaps they were right and I was the ‘slow learner.’ For now, my loving family supports the idea of Dad, the traveling clarinet troubadour, although the dog does seem a bit skeptical.

My concerts, whether solo appearances or chamber music, are musical story telling, a journey reflecting the human condition. Think of your own favorite, past concert experiences and likely you may remember eclectic, entertaining and insightful programing expertly performed, or perhaps great monuments of the literature made personal and accessible, like a fine jewel held in the hand.

Did you know that many of our greatest composers - Mozart, Brahms, Schubert, Strauss, Gershwin, and more - all came to the clarinet near the end of their lives? Not the flute, not any other instrument - they turned to the clarinet at the height of their powers to describe profound and moving emotional and intellectual struggles, and sometimes to express the purest joy. Precisely my own goals as I design a performance for you.

So, welcome to my website! I hope you'll find here something of interest. Perhaps I'll see you out 'on the road' at some concert. For the moment, my family is glad to have me home and, as usual, they're coaxing me back into the kitchen. They seem to like my cooking... even the dog.

- LN